Yeah, I was pleased with the price, and the people I talked to were nice. I just find the whole industry backwards, from a customer service perspective._________________"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

Why is it so hard to decide on a tense to use when writing? I just float between past and present tense CONSTANTLY and then I'm like "Oh I think I used past tense the most" but when I go back to fix the present tense stuff I basically rewrite the whole damned thing and aaaagh.

We talk inconsistently, and generally we write how we talk. Also, it all depends on what you're writing for ad who your audience is. Unless it's some literary types, most people hardly notice tense. I can easily describe something currently happening with past tense verbs:

He ran around the outer edge of the clearing, then leapt into the center.

After thinking about this more, and having some more coffee, it's not really about tense, it's about point of view. If you're writing in third person, it's pretty much all going to sound like this. If you do shift perspectives, just leave a blank line in order to show the shift. IN general, unless you're writing papers the require APA or MLA, use the Chicago Style: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/

Why is it so hard to decide on a tense to use when writing? I just float between past and present tense CONSTANTLY and then I'm like "Oh I think I used past tense the most" but when I go back to fix the present tense stuff I basically rewrite the whole damned thing and aaaagh.

I am a terrible writer.

I have this same problem as well. I'm currently writing something in first person but automatically wrote in past tense. Sometimes I switched to present tense because sometimes things happen right now for this character. But then it gets confusing because how can it feel like a diary when it's happening right now? Gah._________________Home is where the bra isn't.

Why is it so hard to decide on a tense to use when writing? I just float between past and present tense CONSTANTLY and then I'm like "Oh I think I used past tense the most" but when I go back to fix the present tense stuff I basically rewrite the whole damned thing and aaaagh.

I am a terrible writer.

I have this same problem as well. I'm currently writing something in first person but automatically wrote in past tense. Sometimes I switched to present tense because sometimes things happen right now for this character. But then it gets confusing because how can it feel like a diary when it's happening right now? Gah.

Well, if it helps wrap your head around it:

You can write first person current tense about events that have happened in a character's past. Have you ever told a story (about a past event) using present tense? Thinking of it that way might help.

"And then, I leap to the side, deftly bapping the mugger's head with my trusty wiffle bat!"_________________"No, but evil is still being --Is having reason-- Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
-Ed, from Digger

Aaah, hmm. I'm not sure what you call what I prefer? I know it's past tense (I've decided on it, pretty arbitrarily, but there is no going back now).

It's definitely not first person, but I'm fuzzy about the difference between third person and second person. It's like third person, but with special insight into the thought process of one of the characters.

I mean okay saying it like that makes it sound way fancier than it is, when really I just want an excuse to write stupid shit like this:

Quote:

“I don’t know how you like this show.” It was a quiet Sunday and they were both watching Star Trek because as far as Laura was concerned, quiet Sunday’s were made with Star Trek marathons and popcorn in mind. Technically, Derek was pretending to read a book and just happened to be in the living room, but Laura was totally on to him by this point.

“Tribbles, Derek.” She said, as though that explained everything. On the screen, Spock was petting a ball of fluff while the crew surrounding him smirked.

(If anybody thinks it's weird she has my name, you are right, it is kind of weird. Entertainingly, I didn't name the character, I just resurrected her for my own nefarious purposes. Like Star Trek. Shut up.)_________________Samsally the GrayAce

Second-person is rarely used in fiction. Most of the sentence would begin with, "You . . . "

That's definitely third-person, and likely third person, limited POV. We know what Laura is thinking and feeling, though based on your explanation, we probably don't know anyone else's.

Third Person voices_________________The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
- Charles Darwin

The added challenge in third person objective is that you don't know people's names until someone else uses them:

The man in the long trench coat waled up to the security officer.
"Morning, Jim," said the security guard.
"Morning, Steve," said Jim.

From your description I have to agree with Jinx and say it sounds like third person subjective (aka limited) is probably what you're going for.

BTW, for reference, this post is second person since I'm addressing you, Samsally, directly._________________...if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.http://about.me/omardrake

I found a mouse on the floor in my kitchen. It's alive, but isn't moving at all. One of its front feet (?) may be broken. I may have stepped on it, I'm not sure

I picked it up and placed it in a small plastic tub. It's still breathing and hasn't made any attempt to move since I picked it up. I prodded it (as gently as possible) while it was on the floor and it tried to move briefly, but couldn't do much more than drag itself on one side before giving up. Urgh!